Triangle Trip

I had the opportunity to be on two separate Star Alliance flights this month – US Airways and Air Canada. As a Premier Executive on United Airlines and a Star Alliance Gold member, I could board early and access the airport lounges before my international flights. Those are meager benefits for flying 50,000 miles with Star Alliance partners.

Even worse, Star Alliance Gold status doesn’t give any useful perks like advance seat selection when you book your flights on Air Canada and USAir. These benefits from the Star Alliance website are obviously over exaggerated or not honored by all Star Alliance members. I was on a domestic flight operated by USAir, and an international flight operated by Air Canada. Both carriers tried to charge me for picking an aisle or window seat during the reservation process.

USAir claimed their systems were not linked to United, and could not verify my status, when I called them to get out of a middle seat – and told me it would cost an extra $15 to $20 if I wanted to switch. Luckily, the USAir agent was kind enough to give me an exit row seat without any additional fees.

Air Canada also tried to charge me C$15 for selecting an aisle or window seat during the reservation process. Air Canada was more straightforward when I called to change my seat – the agent told me I had purchased a low fare ticket (Tango Class).

Apparently, Tango class ticketholders do not get to pick their seats in advance, regardless of the flier’s status – you can only pick a  seat once you check in at the airport. I was very fortunate again, as the agent told me that the flight was completely empty and I should get a good seat on the flight without paying. FYI, below is a chart I dug up from Air Canada’s website:

Given my recent experiences, I’m not sure if there are any incentives to remain loyal to Star Alliance, or any airline, for that matter. If you’re still keen on getting status on Star Alliance, I strongly suggest you checkout Statusmonger’s previous post: Fast Track to Star Alliance Gold.

Having just returned from Europe, where the price of internet access is extremely high compared to the US, I highly recommend visitors subscribe to a WiFi plan from one of the US providers like Boingo, IPass, Wayport or TMobile before heading to Europe – especially if you are staying for more than four days.

A WiFi provider may sound useless if you’re from and travel throughout the US, where you can get free WiFi by buying a cup of coffee or going to a hotel lobby. However, Internet access in Europe is still quite expensive and limited. For instance, the Madrid airport and its airline lounges charge EU 9 (or around US$12 as of Oct 2010) for an hour of WiFi internet access at the airport terminal. A cheaper alternative is to use a terminal kiosk offered by a local provider which costs EU 1 for 10 minutes or EU 2 for 25 minutes. Furthermore, most European hotels charge guests at least EU 9 per night for internet access – some hotels even limit your data usage.

So if you’re planning to be in Europe for at least four days, I strongly recommend you pick up a “pay as you go” global WiFi plan with a US WiFi carrier that allows you to roam without extra charge. For example, Boingo has a US$59 per month Global WiFi plan which allows you to roam with European WiFi carriers while you are abroad. There is a data limit to this plan, so make sure to check the fine print.

Happy travels.

As a Star Alliance Gold member with a US carrier (Continental, United, or USAir) in the US, you’re allowed to access Star Alliance member lounges (for any of the US or international carriers, like Singapore Airlines) when you fly on an international itinerary. FYI, here’s Statusmonger’s previous post on how to fast track to Star Alliance Gold.

I prefer to travel light and do not carry my United Premiere Executive card, as my Star Alliance Gold status is generally printed on boarding passes. I was recently on two international flights on two different Star Alliance carriers at two different airports:  Continental in Newark, and Air China in Hong Kong. Although my Star Alliance Gold status was recognized on the boarding pass printed at Newark, the Continental agent refused entry into the Presidents Club at Newark. The Continental agent said that I needed my United Premiere Executive card to gain entry. The Continental agent’s reasoning was this:

1. People have been using numbers from friends and family to get Star Alliance Gold status on their boarding passes, which I think is completely bogus. People can modify a boarding pass printed from their own printer; but how can someone modify a boarding pass printed at a Continental kiosk at the airport?

2. Partner airline carriers, like United, refuse to validate Premiere Executive and above status via phone when Continental agents call them. This one I can believe, especially when it comes to United.

Fortunately, I was able to prove my United Airline status using an old Red Carpet luggage tag – the United Mileage Plus number on the tag matched the boarding pass. This experience really made me wonder on how United and Continental is going to merged two inefficient operations (see previous post).

When I was flying Air China in Hong Kong trying to access the Air China lounge, the Air China agent also wanted me to present my United Premiere Executive card to gain entry. Instead of arguing with the Air China agent, I walked down the hall to United’s Red Carpet Club.

At the Red Carpet Club, the United agent also asked me for my Premiere Executive card. When I told the United agent that I didn’t have the card with me, she was able to validate my status on United’s system. In disbelief of the new process, I requested to speak with a manager to better understand the need to present airline status cards.

I was told by the manager that there are too many people with airline status accessing lounges; and since the lounges don’t have enough staff members to maintain them, the airlines are trying minimize the amount of visitors per day. I’m not sure if the manager’s story is true or not, but I have learned from this experience that I must carry my United Premiere Executive and Delta Gold cards with me from now on. I also spoke with Statusmonger (as he has it in his laptop bag) and the Coach about this issue and it seems like carrying status cards has always been a part of their packing routine.

For the record, I also checked on the Star Alliance website which states a valid Star Alliance Gold level card is required for entry to the Star Alliance lounges (Star Alliance Lounge Access Policy).